Very prejudiced view of a missionary captured during the Boxer Rebellion--it is highly critical of the "national character" of the Chinese--but it is nevertheless important because so many of his contemporary Chinese thinkers concurred with his harsh judgements. As Lu Xun (鲁迅) wrote: “I still have hopes that someone will eventually start translating Smith’s Chinese Characteristics [into Chinese], because this book offers insights that would lead us to analyze, question, improve, and transform ourselves. Rather than clamoring for recognition and praise from others, we must struggle with ourselves and find out what it means to be Chinese.” (See Lydia Liu, Translingual Practice, 53).